Electric mobility promises to be WEG's next billion-dollar source of revenue!

Harry Schmelzer Jr. the boss of the Brazilian multinational WEG, wants to enter the global competition for the manufacture of motors for electric cars! The director says that despite the company's interest, he prefers to wait for an evolution in volumes to then enter this segment and points out that Brazil needs to go back and invest effectively with more intensity in infrastructure and reindustrialize the country.

According to him, the electric vehicle production market is happening at an accelerated pace in the world and currently many companies operating in Brazil are bringing solutions from abroad.

“We will monitor this and we will evolve with solutions… And at some point, the opportunity will appear for these volumes to grow in Brazil and it will be important to be supplied by the country, which is when Weg will enter”, said the executive in an interview with Reuters.

WEG is a supplier of electric trucks for urban use launched by Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus

The demand for electric and hybrid cars has grown strongly in Brazil this year, despite the fact that sales volumes are much lower compared to the total market. Anfave data, association of automakers, inform that from January to the end of October, sales of electric and hybrid cars totaled 38,7 thousand units, representing an increase of 44% over the same period last year.

In the quest to build a history in the Brazilian market and then look abroad, Weg is currently focusing on buses and trucks, specifically on powertrains, in partnership with body and truck manufacturing companies.

Currently, Weg is a supplier of electric trucks for urban use launched by Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus, a unit of the Traton group.

"Our strategy is this, trucks are a priority today, because you cannot do everything at the same time", stated the president of Weg. The executive added that being in the automotive industry is something new for the company, which will first learn from this experience in Brazil and then seek internationalization.

Despite not wanting to estimate a speed at which this movement will occur, Harry Schmelzer said that the pressure on decarbonization, directly influences the demand for these products.

Company will allocate BRL 660 million to build a new electric motor factory in Brazil

In order to specialize and master electric mobility technology, WEG, will invest BRL 600 million in the construction of a new factory in the company's industrial complex in Jaraguá do Sul, in Santa Catarina.

WEG expects the conclusion of the new unit, which will be mainly dedicated to motors for the electric mobility segment, in the first quarter of 2024.

"Mobility is a business that will be representative at WEG, I just don't know in what period", said the company's president.

Despite the speed of WEG's growth in the sector is still uncertain, analyst Daniel Gasparete, from Itaú BBA, says electric mobility promises to be the company's next billion-dollar source of revenue.